On the brink

SRI Lanka’s university crisis is on the brink of exploding yet again as officials struggle to absorb over 5,000 new students under a Supreme Court order and the Government proceeds with setting up private universities.

Almost before the bragging sessions over the latest Advanced Level results simmered down, the number crunching started. Despite over 26,000 students being eligible for university, only around 21,000 can be accommodated in the choked institutions, leaving many feeling disgruntled.

After an incredible amount of hard work, students in 2011 went through another harrowing experience when they realised that their precious results had been botched up. This resulted in much ire being directed at the Government and a Supreme Court ruling that called for over 5,000 additional students to be taken into universities already bursting at the seams.

Despite a plea by education authorities for the Government to increase Budget allocations for education, this was not forthcoming and there was no specific funding for the extra students. Therefore, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has now been forced to phase out the extra intake with students facing additional strife from having to sit at home and waste time waiting for university entrance.

Sri Lanka already produces the world’s oldest graduates. When youth in most other countries are busy entering the job market in their early twenties, local students – through no fault of their own – are still just starting their degree programs. By the time most foreign people are done with their Masters, Sri Lankan students are still trying to complete their Bachelors. So long does this cumbersome process take that most students marry and even have children why they are attending university.

Into this inefficient and fund-starved system the Government is planning to unleash private universities. A British university is readying to open its doors in 2014, heralding the first in-country foreign university in Sri Lanka. In fact the Government is planning to use the higher education system to galvanise lacklustre post-war Foreign Direct Investment with newly-minted Cabinet Minister for Investment Promotion Lakshman Yapa Abeywardana rolling out ambitious plans for the sector.

With the Government keen to promote private universities but avoid troublesome standoffs with student unions, it is likely that they will rush through with crucial legislation that would empower the public higher education system and regularise their private counterparts. Lack of transparent discussions and growing concerns over corruption will also make stakeholders insecure about the direction of the country’s higher education sector.

Students, tired of being caught between a rock and a hard place, would probably welcome the option of getting an accredited degree at home. But without proper monitoring and standardisation, the hard-earned money of their parents could be wasted.

On a larger level, Sri Lanka needs technology and knowledge transfer to foster economic growth. On the surface that seems like an argument for private universities, but knowledge needs to be matched with intelligent minds, at present the best crop is funnelled to public universities. The fear that State universities will become the destination for poor students while their richer colleagues opt for private universities should not be allowed to become reality. The ideal of universal higher education opportunities must be upheld.

In such a morass of challenges, it is imperative that the university system is guided on the ideals of fairness and equality, but past experiences do not bode well for the future.